Since Wagner's death, Vercauteren had been staying at the home with her 2-year-old son and mother's body, pretending to be Wagner in texts with her estranged husband so no one would know she was dead, police said.

It wasn't until about 5 p.m. Thursday when Wagner's estranged husband found her body inside the home and called police.

"And the reason he went to check on her was because he hadn't heard from her in awhile, and he was actually contacted by her work that she had not been at work," said Trooper Stephen Limani. "So he was concerned about her well-being and he went to the scene with the maintenance worker, and that's when they discovered her dead."

Police said Vercauteren and her mother got into an argument over her mother's vehicle about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Vercauteren then grabbed a hammer from the kitchen drawer and hit her mother in the head, police said. "As her mother tried to flee, Sarah continually struck her mother with the hammer," police wrote in a press release.

After hitting Wagner with the hammer, Vercauteren dragged her mother into the bathroom and duct-taped her hands and legs so she couldn't escape, police said.

"Realizing her mother was still alive, (Vercauteren) bent down over her mother and she tried to strangle her with her bare hands," police said. She left her mother lying on the bathroom floor and fled the home.

Vercauteren was later taken into custody and was being held in the Allegheny County Jail in connection with an alleged robbery in Versailles on Tuesday. Limani said she was incarcerated "maybe a day or two ago," but there was no indication that her case has anything to do with her mother's death.

According to neighbors, Wagner and her adult daughter had moved into their home about six months ago. Neighbors said she had not been heard from in days before her body was found.

Three neighbors said they heard Wagner's dog "howling for days" before the body was found. Police said the last time anyone heard from Wagner was Monday -- three days before her body was discovered.

Investigators spent hours Thursday searching in and around the woman's home and a shed outside. At one point, a family member arrived and took Wagner's dog.

Kim Seigh, who lives nearby, said she has seen police at Wagner's home before.

"My daughter, who frequents the neighbor across the street -- the state police have stopped her and asked her questions," Seigh said.